Who is Greg Ives? All you need to know about JR Motorsports’ Cup Series crew chief

This year, JR Motorsports will be making their debut in the Cup Series with a single charter driven by Justin Allgaier. The team will make its first-ever entry into the Daytona 500 and has chosen NASCAR veteran Greg Ives as crew chief. Ives has had an illustrious career in the stock car racing world, acting as crew chief in the Cup and Xfinity Series.

Before he joined NASCAR in the pitlane, Greg Stuart Ives was a racecar driver for eight years, getting his start at the age of five. After he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University, the former driver was recruited by Hendrick Motorsports in 2004 to be a shop mechanic. Two years later, he would be promoted to an engineer position on the No. 48 team, working with them till 2012, contributing to 42 wins, 113 Top 5, and 21 pole positions.

In 2013, Ives would become a crew chief for the first time, partnering with Regan Smith for the #8 team at JR Motorsports. Smith and his crew chief would achieve a third-place finish in the standings, along with two wins, eight Top 5s, and 19 Top 10s. Greg would then move to the #9 team, remaining with JR Motorsports, acting as crew chief for Chase Elliott, who was making his Xfinity Series debut in 2014. The duo would secure the championship title that year, making Elliott the youngest driver to do so.

Greg Ives would move to the Cup Series in 2015, becoming chief for JR Motorsports' co-founder Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the #88 HMS team. Ives and Earnhardt Jr.'s partnership lasted till the driver's retirement in 2017, during which time the duo achieved three wins, 22 Top 5s, and 36 Top 10 finishes. The 2016 season also saw Ives act as crew chief to Jeff Gordon for 8 out of 18 races that Dale Jr. was out of commission, as well as the remaining 10 races for his future driver pairing with Alex Bowman. Bowman and Ives joined forces full-time from the 2018 - 2022 seasons, working together to achieve seven wins, 28 Top 5s, and 66 Top 10s under the #88 banner.

In 2022, he announced his retirement from being a crew chief for the full season, choosing to spend time with his family. However, Ives would return to his role for 4 of Bowman's Cup Series Races in 2023, as well as 12 Xfinity Series races for a variety of drivers in the last two years.

Why JR Motorsports' co-founder chose Greg Ives for their debut Cup Series charter

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) and crew chief Greg Ives during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. - Source: Imagn

After it was announced that Greg Ives would return to the Cup Series this year to be crew chief for JR Motorsports' entry in the Daytona 500, co-founder and former driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., spoke about why they chose the veteran crew chief for the role.

Speaking to the media, Dale Jr. said:

“Being an open car, there’s some challenges to get into the field, and it won’t be easy. There’ll be some very tough competition, so I was confident that Greg understood better than anybody the things that we would all need to gather into place to go there with the best opportunity we could.” [ via Forbes]

Greg Ives has helped secure multiple pole position qualifyings at the Daytona 500, and one of two of Dale Jr.'s victories at the historic race.